AT LOS ANGELES 




L E C T U B E 



ON THE LATE IMPROVEMENTS IN 



STEAM NAVIGATION 



THE ARTS OF NAVAL WARFARE, 



WITH A BRIEF NOTICE OF 



ERICSSON'S CALORIC ENGINE: 



Ueltbmti before tlje Boston 



BY 



JOHN O. SARGENT. 



NEW- YORK AND LONDON : 

WILEY AND PUTNAM 



HDOCOXLIT. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1844, 

BT WILEY AND PUTNAM, 
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of New- York. 



NEW-YOUK : 
WILLIAM OSBORN, PRINTER, 

S3 William- street. 



NOTE. 



THE following Lecture was prepared for 
the BOSTON LYCEUM, and was delivered before 
that Association in December last. Its topics 
have proved of sufficient interest to induce fre- 

M 

uj quent applications for its repetition, which, in 

>: consequence of professional engagements, the 

*< 

writer has been compelled in every instance to 
decline. He now acquiesces in its publication 

5? with reluctance, because it was not originally 

intended for the press, and must appear with 
the numerous defects, which in an oral dis- 
course may be readily pardoned, but in the 
printed page cannot escape censure. The 
novelty of its materials, however, must com- 

^ pensate, so far as it may, for the rudeness of 

5! its execution. 

New-York, May Wih, 1844. 



LECTURE 



SOME five or six years ago, I was a spectator of 
the departure of the Great Western from the port 
of New- York, on her first trans- atlantic voyage. 
The event excited universal interest. Quite a 
gala day was made on the occasion. When the 
hour of her departure approached, Castle Garden, 
and the battery, and the piers in the neighborhood, 
on the North and East rivers, were crowded with 
their thousands of curious and anxious specta- 
tors. The numerous ships in the harbor dis- 
played their national flags. Scores of sail-boats 
and row-boats were darting about among the 
large craft, with which the bay and rivers were 
alive. When this magnificent vessel started on 



8 



her voyage, she was followed by a fleet of steam- 
boats laden with dense masses of human beings, 
while the floating streamers and gay music ani- 
mated a scene which is, at all times, one of sur- 
passing natural beauty. 

The Great Western continued to come and go, 
with the regularity of the returning months, and 
her departure had, of course, ceased to be a sub- 
ject of much more interest than that of an ordi- 
nary London packet. 

On the 20th of October last, however, between 
two and three o'clock in the afternoon, the tide 
of life, that was pouring down Broadway towards 
the Battery, indicated that some spectacle was an- 
ticipated of similar interest with that which I have 
described. The Battery and the piers were again 
thronged with an expecting multitude. At her 
appointed hour, the Great Western came plough- 
ing her way down the East river, under circum- 
stances which manifested more than ordinary 
effort. She was enveloped in clouds of steam, 
and of dense black smoke ; her paddle wheels 
were revolving with unusual velocity, leaving a 
white wake behind her, that seemed to cover half 
the river with foam : and with her sails all set, she 
was evidently prepared to do her best in an an- 



ticipated race. As she passed the Battery she 
was greeted with three hearty cheers, and a fair 
field with no favor was all that she seemed to 
challenge, and the least that all were willing to 
allow her. 

She had left Castle Garden about a quarter of 
a mile behind her ? when a fine model of a sailing 
ship, frigate-like, appeared gliding gracefully 
down the North river, against the tide, without a 
breath of smoke or steam to obscure her path 
with no paddle-wheels or smoke-pipe visible 
propelled by a noiseless and unseen agency, with- 
out a rag of canvass on her lithe and beautiful 
spars but at a speed that soon convinced the 
assembled thousands that she would successfully 
dispute the palm with the gallant vessel, celebra- 
ted throughout the world, and every where admit- 
ted to be the queen of the seas. 

Such is the march of improvement in the arts. 
The new comer was the United States War- 
Steamer Princeton. The agent by which she 
was moved was ERICSSON'S PROPELLER. She 
soon reached and passed the Great Western, 
went round her, and passed her a second time be- 
fore they had reached their point of separation. 
In a moment, practical men began to speak lightly 



10 



of their hitherto favorite paddle-wheel and the 
Propeller, that they had shrugged their shoulders 
at, and amused themselves with for some years 
of doubtful experiment, rose into altogether un- 
expected favor. 

As confidential personal relations with Captain 
ERICSSON, and an acquaintance with some of his 
friends, have made me familiar with the incidents 
of his professional career, I have thought that I 
could not more agreeably or more usefully occupy 
the hour allotted to me this evening, than by giv- 
ing a brief account of an invention that is now 
exciting so much public interest ; with a slight 
sketch of the man who is destined to rank, from 
his eminent attainments in the various branches 
of mechanical philosophy, and from the character 
and importance of the results he has already ac- 
complished, with the first mechanicians of the age. 

The principle of the propeller was first sug- 
gested to the inventor, by the analogies of nature, 
and a study of the means employed to propel the 
inhabitants of the air and deep. He satisfied 
himself that all such propulsion in nature is pro- 
duced by oblique action ; though, in common with 
all practical men, he at first supposed that it was 
inseparably attended by a loss of power. But 



11 



when he reflected that this was the universal prin- 
ciple adopted by the great Mechanician of the 
universe, in enabling the birds, insects and fishes 
to move through their respective elements, he 
knew that he must be in error. This he was soon 
able to demonstrate, and he became convinced, 
by a strict application of the laws which govern 
matter and motion, that no loss of power whatever 
attends the oblique action of the propelling sur- 
faces applied to Nature's locomotives. 

After having satisfied himself on the theory of 
the subject, the first step of the inventor was the 
construction of a small model which he tried in 
the circular basin of a bath in London. The 
model was fitted with a small engine, supplied 
with steam by a pipe leading from a steam-boiler 
over the centre of the bath, and descending to 
within a foot of the water line, where it was 
branched off by a swivel joint and connected with 
the engine in the boat. Steam being admitted in 
this pipe, the engine in the boat was put in mo- 
tion, and motion was thus communicated to the 
propeller. To the great delight of the inventor, 
so perfectly was his theory borne out in practice, 
and so entirely were all his anticipations realized, 
that this model, though less than two feet long, 



performed its voyage about the basin, at the rate 
of upwards of three English miles an hour. 

The next step in the invention was the con- 
struction of a boat forty feet long, eight feet beam, 
three feet draft of water, with two propellers each 
of five feet three inches diameter. So successful 
was this experiment, that when steam was turned 
on the first time, the boat at once moved at a speed 
upwards of ten miles an hour, without a single al- 
teration being requisite in her machinery. Not 
only did the boat attain this considerable speed, 
but its power to tow larger vessels was found to be 
so great, that schooners of one hundred and forty 
tons burthen were propelled by it at the rate of 
seven miles an hour ; and the American packet 
ship Toronto, under the command of Captain 
GRISWOLD, was towed in the river Thames by this 
miniature steamer, at the rate of more than five 
English miles an hour through the water. This 
feat excited no little interest among the boatmen 
of the Thames, who were astonished at the sight 
of this novel craft moving against wind and tide 
without any visible agency of propulsion, and as- 
cribing to it some supernatural origin united in 
giving it the name of the Flying Devil. But the 
engineers of London regarded the experiment 



with silent neglect : and the subject, when laid 
before the Lords of the British Admiralty, failed to 
attract any favorable notice from that august body. 
Perceiving its peculiar and admirable fitness 
for ships of war, ERICSSON was confident that 
their lordships would at once order the construc- 
tion of a war-steamer on the new principle. He 
invited them therefore, to take an excursion in 
tow of his experimental boat. Accordingly the 
gorgeous and gilt Admiralty Barge was ordered 
up to the Somerset House, and the little steamer 
was lashed along side. The barge contained Sir 
CHARLES ADAM, senior lord of the Admiralty ; Sir 
WILLIAM SIMONDS, chief constructor of the 
British Navy ; Sir EDWARD PARRY, the celebra- 
ted commander of the second North Pole expe- 
dition ; Captain BEAUFORT, the chief of the To- 
pographical Department of the British Admiralty, 
and others of scientific and naval distinction. 
In the anticipation of a severe scrutiny from so 
distinguished a personage as the chief construc- 
tor of the British Navy, the inventor had carefully 
prepared plans of his new mode of propulsion, 
which were spread on the damask cloth of the 
magnificent barge. To his utter astonishment, 
as we may well imagine, this scientific gentleman 



14 



did not appear to take the slightest interest in his 
explanations. On the contrary, with those ex- 
pressive shrugs of the shoulder, and shakes of 
the head, which convey so much to the bystander 
without absolutely committing the actor, with 
an occasional sly, mysterious, undertone remark 
to his colleagues, he indicated very plainly that 
though his humanity would not permit him to give 
a worthy man cause for so much unhappiness, yet 
that " he could an if he would" demonstrate by a 
single word the utter futility of the whole inven- 
tion. 

Meanwhile the little steamer, with her precious 
charge, proceeded at a steady progress of ten 
miles an hour, through the arches of the lofty 
South wark and London bridges, towards Lime- 
house, and the steam-engine manufactory of the 
Messrs. SEAWARD. Their lordships having landed 
and inspected the huge piles of ill-shaped cast 
iron, mis-denominated marine engines, intended 
for some of his Majesty's steamers ; with a look 
at their favorite propelling apparatus, the Morgan 
paddle-wheel, they re-embarked and were safely 
returned to the Somerset House, by the disre- 
garded, noiseless and unseen propeller of the new 
steamer. 



On parting, Sir CHARLES ADAM, with a sympa- 
thizing air, shook the inventor cordially by the 
hand, and thanked him for the trouble he had been 
at in showing him and his friends this interesting 
experiment ; adding, that he feared he had put him- 
self to too great an expense and trouble on the oc- 
casion. Notwithstanding this somewhat ominous 
finale of the day's excursion, ERICSSON felt confi- 
dent that their lordships could not fail to perceive 
the great importance of the. invention. To his sur- 
prise, however, a few days afterwards, a friend put 
into his hands a letter written by Captain BEAU- 
FORT, at the suggestion, probably, of the lords of 
the Admiralty ; in which that gentleman, who 
had himself witnessed the experiment, expressed 
regret to state that their lordships had certainly 
been very much disappointed at its result. The 
reason for the disappointment was altogether in- 
explicable to the inventor : for the speed attained 
at this trial far exceeded any thing that had ever 
been accomplished by any paddle wheel steamer 
on so small a scale. 

An accident soon relieved his astonishment, 
and explained the mysterious givings-out of Sir 
WILLIAM SIMONDS, alluded to in our notice of the 
excursion. The subject having been started at 

3 



16 



a dinner table when a friend of ERICSSON was 
present, Sir WILLIAM ingeniously and ingenuous- 
ly remarked, that " even if the Propeller had the 
" power of propelling a vessel, it would be found 
" altogether useless in practice, because the power 
" being applied in the stern it would be absolute- 
" ly impossible to make the vessel steer." It 
may not be obvious to every one how our naval 
philosopher derived his conclusion from his pre- 
mises ; but his hearers doubtless readily ac- 
quiesced in the oracular proposition, and were 
much amused at the idea of undertaking to steer 
a vessel when the power was applied in her stern. 
But we may well excuse the lords of the 
British Admiralty for exhibiting no interest in 
the invention, when we reflect that the engineer- 
ing corps of the empire were arrayed in opposi- 
tion to it ; alleging that it was constructed upon 
erroneous principles, and full of practical defects, 
and regarding its failure as too certain to autho- 
rize any speculations even of its success. The 
plan was specially submitted to many distin- 
guished engineers, and was publicly discussed in 
the scientific journals ; and there was no one but 
the inventor who refused to acquiesce in the truth 
of the numerous demonstrations, proving the vast 



17 



loss of mechanical power which must attend this 
proposed substitute for the old-fashioned paddle 
wheel. 

While opposed by such a powerful array of 
English scientific wisdom, the inventor had the 
satisfaction of submitting his plan to a citizen of 
the New World, who was able to understand its 
philosophy, and appreciate its importance. I 
allude to a gentleman well known to many of this 
audience, who have enjoyed his liberal hospitality 
in a foreign land, Mr. FRANCIS B. OGDEN, a 
native of New-Jersey, for many years Consul of 
the United States at Liverpool, and in that posi- 
tion reflecting the highest credit on the American 
name and character. Though not an engineer 
by profession, Mr OGDEN has been distinguished 
for his eminent attainments in mechanical 
science, and is entitled to the honor of having 
first applied the important principle of the expan- 
sive power of steam, and of having originated 
the idea of employing right angular cranks in 
marine engines. His practical experience and 
long study of the subject, for he was the first 
to stem the waters of the Ohio and Mississippi, 
and the first to navigate the ocean, by the power 
of steam alone, enabled him at once to perceive 



18 



the truth of the inventor's demonstrations. And 
not only did he admit their truth, but he also 
joined Captain ERICSSON in constructing the first 
experimental boat to which I have alluded, and 
which the inventor launched into the Thames, 
with the name of the Francis B. Ogden, as a 
token of respect for his transatlantic friend. 

Other circumstances soon occurred, which con- 
soled the inventor for his disappointment in the 
rejection of the Propeller by the lords of the 
British Admiralty. The subject had been brought 
to the notice of an officer of the Navy of the 
United States, who was at that time on a visit to 
London, and who was induced to accompany the 
inventor in one of his experimental excursions on 
the Thames. I allude to Captain ROBERT F. 
STOCKTON, who is entitled to the credit of being 
the first naval officer who heard, understood, and 
dared to act upon the suggestions of ERICSSON, 
as to the application of the Propeller to ships of 
war. At the first glance, he saw the important 
bearings of the invention, and his acute judgment 
enabled him at once to predict that it was destined 
to work a revolution in naval warfare. In those 
who are not acquainted with the character of 
Captain STOCKTON, the great rapidity of his per- 



19 



ception, his self-reliance, and the energy with 
which he prosecutes his purposes it may excite 
some surprise to learn, that, after making a single 
trip in the experimental steamboat, from London 
bridge to Greenwich, he ordered the inventor to 
build for him forthwith two iron boats for the 
United States, with steam machinery and Propel- 
ler on the plan of this rejected invention. " I do 
not want," said Captain STOCKTON, " the opinions 
of your scientific men ; what I have seen this 
day satisfies me." It is due to Captain STOCK- 
TON to state that his whole course in regard to this 
invention, and the introduction of it into this 
country, has been in accordance with the spirit of 
this remark. 

At a dinner given on this occasion at Green- 
wich, Captain STOCKTON, in his happy style, 
made several predictions and promises in respect 
to the new invention, all of which have since been 
realized. To the inventor, he said in words of no 
unmeaning compliment, " We '11 make your name 
ring on the Delaware, as soon as we get the Pro- 
peller there." The PRINCETON was launched into 
the Delaware, and the Ericsson Steamboat Line 
is now carrying nearly the whole of the freight 
between Philadelphia and Baltimore, and Captain 



20 



STOCKTON'S several iron Propeller boats may be 
seen every day on the Delaware, carrying the 
rich mineral products of Pennsylvania to the 
East. 

But not only did Captain STOCKTON order, on 
his own account, the two iron boats to which I 
have referred ; he at once brought the subject 
before the Government of the United States, and 
caused numerous plans and models to be made 
at his own expense, explaining the peculiar fit- 
ness of the new invention for ships of war. So 
completely persuaded was he of its great im- 
portance in this aspect, and so determined that 
his views should be carried out, that he boldly 
assured the inventor that the Government of the 
United States would test the Propeller on a large 
scale ; and so confident was ERICSSON that the 
perseverance and energy of Captain STOCKTON 
would sooner or later accomplish what he pro- 
mised, that he at once abandoned his professional 
engagements in England, and set out for the 
United States. Circumstances delayed, for some 
two years, the execution of their plan. With the 
change of the Federal administration, Captain 
STOCKTON was first able to obtain a favorable 
hearing ; and under the auspices of the present 



administration, the experiment of the Princeton 
has been made, and has been successful. 

It is due to the inventor to mention that the Pro- 
peller, as successfully applied in the Princeton, is 
the same precisely in construction with that of 
the Francis B. Ogden ; not merely in theory, 
but in its minute practical details. There is now 
a Propeller in the Phoenix Foundry, in New-York, 
brought over by Captain ERICSSON, in the British 
Queen, in 1839, which, in all its essential parts, 
is a fac-simile of that in the Francis B. Ogden, 
and of that in the Princeton. 

The circumstances then, under which this in- 
vention was devised and prosecuted, the perseve- 
rance with which it was followed up by ERICS- 
SON, through all discouragement and neglect, and 
its ultimate success in its precise original shape, 
prove it to have been the result, not of a happy 
accident, but of patient reflection and scientific 
calculation. It was not hit upon, but was 
wrought out ; it was not suggested, but elabo- 
rated ; demonstrated in theory to the inventor's 
own satisfaction, before it was submitted to the 
test of a successful experiment. 

In further illustration of this fact, and before 
proceeding to give a more particular account of 



the Princeton and the Propeller, I will present a 
brief personal sketch of the inventor, that cannot 
fail to possess the interest of novelty, at least, 
to all ; and may gratify such of the audience as 
indulge a natural curiosity in tracing the progress 
of a professional career, from its dawn to its 
meridian, without waiting for its close. 

JOHN ERICSSON was born in 1803, in the Pro- 
vince of Vermeland, among the iron mountains 
of SWEDEN. His father was a mining proprietor, 
so that the youth had ample opportunities to 
watch the operation of the various engines and 
machinery connected with the mines. These 
had been erected by mechanicians of the highest 
scientific attainments, and presented a fine study 
to a mind of mechanical tendencies. Under 
such influences, his innate mechanical talent was 
early developed. At the age of ten years, he 
had constructed with his own hands, and after his 
own plans, a miniature saw-mill ; and had made 
numerous drawings of complicated mechanical 
contrivances, with instruments of his own inven- 
tion and manufacture. 

In 1814, he attracted the attention of the cele- 
brated Count PLATEN, who had heard of his boy- 
ish efforts, and desired an interview with him. 



After carefully examining the various plans 
and drawings which the youth exhibited on this 
occasion, the Count handed them back to 
him, simply observing in an impressive manner, 
" Continue as you have commenced, and you will 
one day produce something extraordinary." 
Count PLATEN was the intimate personal friend 
of BERNADOTTE, the King of Sweden, and was 
regarded by him with a feeling little short of 
veneration. It was Count PLATEN who under- 
took and carried through, in opposition to the 
views of the Swedish nobility, and of nearly the 
whole nation, that gigantic work, the Grand Ship 
Canal of SWEDEN, which connects the North Sea 
with the Baltic. He died Viceroy of NORWAY, and 
left behind him in the North of Europe, the repu- 
tation of one of the greatest men of the century. 
The few words of kind encouragement, which he 
spoke on the occasion to which I have referred, 
sunk deeply into the mind of the young mecha- 
nician, and confirmed him in the career on which 
he had entered. 

Immediately after this interview, young ERICS- 
SON was appointed a cadet in the corps of engi- 
neers, and, after six months' tuition, at the age of 
twelve years, was appointed nivelleur at the 

4 



Grand Ship Canal, under Count PLATEN. In 
this capacity in the year 1816 he was required to 
set out the work for more than six hundred men. 
The canal was constructed by soldiers. He 
was at that time not tall enough to look through 
the levelling instrument ; and in using it he was 
obliged to mount upon a stool, carried by his at- 
tendants for that purpose. As the discipline in 
the Swedish army required that the soldier should 
always uncover the head in speaking to his supe- 
rior, gray-headed men came, cap in hand, to re- 
ceive their instructions from this mere child. 
While thus employed in the summer months, he 
was constantly occupied during the winter with 
his pencil and pen ; and there are many im- 
portant works on the canal constructed after 
drawings made by ERICSSON at this early age. 
During his leisure hours he measured up, and 
made working drawings of every implement and 
piece of machinery connected with this great en- 
terprise ; so that at the age of fifteen, he was in 
possession of accurate plans of the whole work 
drawn by his own hand. 

His associations with military men on the canal 
had given him a tendency for military life, and at 
the age of seventeen he entered the Swedish 



army as an ensign, without the knowledge of his 
friend and patron Count PLATEN. This step ex- 
cited the indignation of the count, who tried to 
prevail upon him to change his resolution ; but 
finding all his arguments useless, he terminated 
an angry interview by bidding the young ensign 
to " go to the devil." The affectionate regard 
which he entertained for the count, arid gratitude 
for the interest taken by him in his education, 
caused the circumstances of this interview to 
make a deep impression upon ERICSSON, but 
were not sufficient to shake his determination. 

Soon after the young ensign had entered upon 
his regimental duties, an affair occurred which 
threatened to obscure his hitherto bright pros- 
pects. His colonel, Baron KOSKULL, had been 
disgraced by the King, about the time that he 
had recommended ERICSSON for promotion. This 
circumstance induced the king to reject the re- 
commendation. The colonel was exceedingly 
annoyed by this rejection, and having in his pos- 
session a military map made by the expectant en- 
sign, took it to his Royal Highness the Crown 
Prince OSCAR, and besought him to intercede for 
the young man with the King. The Prince re- 
ceived the map very kindly, expressing great ad- 



miration of its beautiful finish arid execution, 
and presented himself in person with it to the 
King, who yielded to the joint persuasion of the 
Prince and the map, and promoted the young en- 
sign to the lieutenancy for which he had been re- 
commended. 

About the time of this promotion, the Govern- 
ment had ordered the Northern part of SWEDEN 
to be accurately surveyed. It being the desire of 
the King that officers of the army should be 
employed in this service, ERICSSON, whose regi- 
ment was stationed in the Northern highlands, 
proceeded to Stockholm, for the purpose of sub- 
mitting himself to the severe examination then 
requisite to precede the appointment of Govern- 
ment surveyor. The mathematical education, 
which he had received under Count PLATEN, now 
proved very serviceable. He passed the examina- 
tion with great distinction, and in the course of 
it to the surprise of the examiners, showed that 
he could repeat EUCLID verbatim ; not by the 
exercise of the memory, which in ERICSSON is not 
remarkably retentive, but from his perfect mastery 
of geometrical science. There is no doubt that 
it is this thorough knowledge of geometry, to 



27 



which he is indebted for his clear conceptions on 
all mechanical subjects. 

Having returned to the highlands, he entered 
on his new vocation with great assiduity ; and, 
supported by an unusually strong constitution, 
he mapped a larger extent of territory in a given 
time than any other of the numerous surveyors 
employed on the work. There are yet in the 
archives of SWEDEN, detailed maps of upwards 
of fifty square miles made by his hand. Neither 
the great labors attending these surveys, nor his 
military duties, could give sufficient employment 
to the energies of the young officer. He now 
commenced the arduous task of compiling a work 
on canals, to be illustrated by sixty-four large 
plates, representing the various buildings, ma- 
chines and instruments, connected with the con- 
struction of such works. The part assigned to 
him in this enterprise was nothing less than that 
of constructing all the drawings, as well as of 
engraving the numerous plates ; and as all the 
plates were to be executed in the style of what is 
called machine-engraving, he undertook to con- 
struct a machine for the purpose, which he suc- 
cessfully accomplished. This work he prose- 
cuted with so much industry in the midst of his other 



various labors, that, within the first year of its 
commencement he had executed eighteen large 
plates, which were pronounced by judges of 
machine-engraving to be of superior merit. 

His associate in this undertaking was a Ger- 
man engineering officer, Major PENTZ, who wrote 
the text in the German language in preference to 
the Swedish, in order to secure a wider circula- 
tion. Other labors prevented the immediate 
completion of this work ; and so rapid is the im- 
provement in civil engineering, that the lapse of 
a very few years, from the time of the intended 
publication, would have rendered it of but little 
practical utility. 

While thus variously occupied, being on a 
visit to the house of his colonel, ERICSSON on one 
occasion showed his host, by a very simple ex- 
periment, how readily and by what simple means 
mechanical power may be produced, indepen- 
dently of steam, by condensing flame. His friend, 
being himself a lover of the sciences, was much 
struck by the beauty and simplicity of the experi- 
ment, arid prevailed upon ERICSSON to give more 
attention to a principle which he considered high- 
ly important. The young officer accordingly 
made some experiments on an enlarged scale, 



29 



and succeeded in the production of a motive 
power equal to that of a steam-engine of ten 
horse. So satisfactory was the result of these 
experiments, from the compact form of the 
machine employed, as well as the comparatively 
small consumption of fuel, that he conceived the 
idea of at once bringing it out in ENGLAND, the 
great field for all mechanical inventions. 

ERICSSON accordingly, through his colonel, ob- 
tained leave from the King to visit ENGLAND, where 
he arrived on the eighteenth of May, 1826. He 
there proceeded to construct a working engine on 
the principle to which I have referred ; but soon 
discovered that his Flame Engine, when worked 
by the combustion of mineral coals, was a diffe- 
rent thing from the experimental model he had 
tried in the highlands of SWEDEN, with fuel com- 
posed of splinters of fine pine wood. Not only 
did he fail to produce an extended and vivid flame, 
but the intense heat of the mineral coals so seri- 
ously affected all the working parts of the ma- 
chine, as soon to cause its destruction. These 
experiments, it may well be supposed, were at- 
tended with no trifling expenditure ; and, to meet 
their demands upon him, our young adventurer 



30 



was compelled to draw on his mechanical re- 
sources. 

Invention now followed invention in rapid suc- 
cession, until the records of the Patent Office, in 
London, were enriched by the drawings of the 
remarkable steam-boiler on the principle of artifi- 
cial draft ; to which principle we are mainly in- 
debted for the benefits conferred on civilized 
life by the present rapid communication by rail- 
ways. In bringing this important invention be- 
fore the public, ERICSSON thought it advisable to 
join some old and established mechanical house 
in London, and accordingly he associated himself 
with JOHN BRAITHWAITE, a name favorably 
known in the mechanical annals of ENGLAND. 
This invention was hardly developed, when a 
favorable opportunity was presented for testing 
it in practice. The directors of the Liver- 
pool and Manchester railway, before erecting 
the stationary engines by which they had intend- 
ed to draw their passenger and freight car- 
riages, determined to appeal to the mechanical 
talent of the country, in the hope of securing 
some preferable mode of transit. A prize was 
accordingly offered in the fall of 1829, for the 
best locomotive engine, to be tested on the small 



portion, at that time completed of the railway. 
Sufficient publicity not having been given to their 
advertisement, ERICSSON was not aware that any 
such prize had been offered, until within seven 
weeks of the day fixed for the trial. Unwilling 
to permit the occasion to escape him, he was not 
deterred by the shortness of the time, but, apply- 
ing all his energies to the task, planned the en- 
gine, executed the working drawings, and caused 
the patterns to be made, and the whole machine 
completed within the seven weeks. The day of 
trial arrived. The competing engines were on 
the ground, and the novelty of the race had at- 
tracted an immense concourse of people. Both 
sides of the railway, for more than a mile in 
length, were lined with thousands of spectators. 
There was no room for jockeying in such a race, 
for inanimate matter was to be put in motion, 
and that moves only in accordance with immuta- 
ble laws. The signal was given for the start. 
Instead of the application of whip and spur, the 
gentle touch of the steam-valve gave life and 
motion to the novel machine. Up to that pe- 
riod, the greatest speed at which man had been 
carried along the ground, was that of the race- 
horse ; and no one, of the multitude present on this 

5 



occasion, expected to see that speed surpassed. 
It was the general belief that the maximum at- 
tainable by the locomotive engine, would not 
much exceed ten miles. To the surprise and 
admiration of the crowd, however, the Novelty 
steam carriage, the fastest engine started, guided 
by its inventor, ERICSSON, assisted by JOHN 
BRAITHWAITE, darted along the track at the 
rate of upwards of fifty miles an hour ! 

The breathless silence of the multitude was 
now broken by thunders of hurras, that drowned 
the hiss of the escaping steam and the rolling of 
the engine wheels. To reduce the surprise and 
delight excited on this occasion to the universal 
standard, and as an illustration of the extent to 
which the value of property is sometimes en- 
hanced by the success of a mechanical inven- 
tion, it may be stated that when the Novelty had 
run her two miles and returned, the shares of the 
Liverpool and Manchester railway had risen ten 
per cent. 

But how easily may the just expectations of an 
inventor be disappointed ! Although the principle 
of the steam-boiler which gave to the Novelty en- 
gine such decided superiority in speed, is yet re- 
tained in all locomotive engines, I mean the prin- 



33 



ciple of artificial draft ; yet the mode of producing 
this draft in our present engines is far different 
from that introduced by ERICSSON, and was dis^- 
covered by the merest accident ; and so soon 
was this discovery made, after the successful dis- 
play of the Novelty engine, that the inventor had 
no time to derive the least advantage from its 
introduction. 

To him, however, belongs the credit of having 
first disproved the correctness of the once es- 
tablished theory, that, it was absolutely necessary 
that a certain extensive amount of surface should 
be exposed to the fire, to generate a given quan- 
tity of steam. The remarkable lightness and 
compactness of the new boiler, invented by 
ERICSSON, have led to the employment of steam 
in many instances in which it had been pre- 
viously inapplicable. Among these I would only 
mention the steam fire-engine constructed by him 
in conjunction with Mr. BRAITHWAITE, about 
the same time with the Novelty, and which ex- 
cited so much interest in London at the time the 
Argyle Rooms were on fire. A similar engine 
of greater power was subsequently constructed 
by ERICSSON and BRAITHWAITE, for the King of 
PRUSSIA, which was mainly instrumental in saving 



several valuable buildings at a great fire a few 
years ago at Berlin. For this invention ERICS- 
SON received, in 1842, the large gold medal offer- 
ed by the Mechanics' Institute of New-York, for 
the best plan of a steam fire-engine. 

It would not consist with the limits or the de- 
sign of this Lecture, to mention the numerous in- 
ventions devised by Captain ERICSSON during his 
residence in ENGLAND, my main object being to 
describe, very briefly, the Propeller in its applica- 
tion to ships of war. In natural connection with 
which, I shall take occasion to comment on an 
invention which has been for many years the 
favorite project and study of Captain ERICSSON, 
and the perfecting of which will confer inestimable 
benefits on mankind. 

Before resuming the topic with which I com- 
menced, and returning to the spectacle which 
suggested the Lecture of this evening, I will at- 
tempt a slight description of the mechanical con- 
struction of the Propeller, and notice some of the 
objections to it which have been suggested during 
the many years of opposition, ridicule and neg- 
lect, through which it has been forcing its way 
into public use. 

The ERICSSON PROPELLER is composed of a 



35 



series of spiral plates attached to the outside 
circumference of a short cylinder ; which is sup- 
ported by two or more winding or twisted spokes. 
The mere description suggests very obvious dif- 
ferences between this machine and the Archime- 
dian Screw, which is simply a thread or spiral 
blade coiled round an axis ; and yet the error pre- 
vails extensively that the two are one and the 
same thing. The Propeller is placed at the stern 
of the vessel, and instead, of revolving in a plane 
parallel to the keel, like the ordinary paddle- 
wheel, it moves in a plane at right angles, on a 
shaft or axis parallel to the keel. In all vessels 
having a large draft of water, the Propeller acts 
entirely below the surface ; and in vessels of a 
light draft, it is only partially immersed. 

I have already stated that the principle of 
ERICSSON'S PROPELLER is that of oblique action ; 
very much resembling the action employed by 
nature in her various contrivances of propulsion 
through the air and water, such as in the wings 
of birds and insects, and in the tails of fishes. 
But though this general similarity exists between 
the oblique action in the propelling surfaces of 
this machine, and that of the propelling surfaces 
alluded to in nature, yet there is this important 



36 

difference ; that, whilst there is a reciprocating 
movement given to them by the latter, a rotary 
movement is given to them in the Propeller. 

But if this mode is preferable, why has it not 
been employed by nature 1 It is obvious that, in 
an animal, the rotary movement would twist and 
destroy the blood vessels and integuments con- 
necting the propelling apparatus to the main body, 
and cannot, therefore, be employed. Human con- 
trivance, however, may well have the advantage over 
that of nature in a single aspect. The one thing 
for which it is designed, and that only, it can exe- 
cute ; whilst the motive machines of nature are 
capable of discharging a thousand functions at 
the same time. 

It has formed a popular objection to the Pro- 
peller, that there is a loss of power unavoidably 
consequent on the oblique action. It is a well 
established principle in hydrostatics, that the 
force of fluids is always directed at right angles to 
the surface on which it acts. From this it follows 
that the force of the water, exerted against the 
oblique plates of the Propeller, depends upon the 
superficial measurement. It may at once be ad- 
mitted that the whole amount of the force thus 
acting on the plates, will not, in consequence of 



87 



their oblique position, be exerted in urging the 
vessel ahead. Now, this admission, to an unre- 
flecting observer, might lead to the conclusion 
that there is a loss of power ; but the same 
reasoning, which shows that the vessel is not 
urged ahead by the whole force exerted on the 
plates, likewise proves that this whole force does 
not counteract the power of the engine employed 
in turning the Propeller. The erroneous conclu- 
sion, then, as to the loss of power, arises from 
overlooking this important fact ; for, in the ratio 
that the propelling force imparted to the vessel 
is less than the actual pressure on the plates, in 
the very same ratio will the engine power requi- 
site to turn the Propeller be less than the force 
of the water exerted against the plates. 

It has been asserted by many engineers of re- 
putation, that the centrifugal tendency produced 
by the revolution of the Propeller, would cause 
the water constantly to recede from the centre, 
and thereby render the propelling surfaces ineffi- 
cient. This tendency the inventor of the Propel- 
ler has obviated, by the introduction of the short cy- 
linder, or broad hoop, to which the spiral plates are 
attached. The water tending to fly off from 
the centre is effectually intercepted by this hoop. 



In the Princeton, the cylinder of the Propeller 
is eight feet in diameter, and twenty six inches 
long ; and the extreme diameter described by 
the outer edges of the spiral plates is fourteen 
feet. It is manufactured wholly of composition 
metal, the copper of the vessel, in connection with 
the sea water, exciting a galvanic action which 
corrodes iron and renders it inapplicable for this 
purpose. 

The steam machinery of the Princeton is 
quite as worthy of observation as her Propeller. 
It is evidently not enough, in a ship of war, that 
the Propeller alone should be placed below the 
water line ; it is indispensable that the whole 
machinery should be placed out of the reach of 
shot. The ordinary steam engine is too bulky 
to admit of this location, and Captain ERICSSON 
has invented and constructed an engine upon a 
novel principle, by which he has been able to 
effect this most desirable object. Any one, of skill 
or knowledge in mechanics, will be instantly 
struck by this beautiful engine as the most re- 
markable feature in the ship ; in view of the vast 
power that it embodies in so small a compass, 
and the perfect symmetry and exquisite propor- 
tions of all its working parts. It has been patented 



39 



in ENGLAND, and in this country, by Captain 
ERICSSON, under the name of the semi-cylindrical 
steam-engine. It differs from other engines in 
the construction and operation of its working cy- 
linders. In the place of complete cylinders, semi- 
cylinders are employed ; the pistons of which, in- 
stead of being circular, and traversing from end to 
end of the cylinder, consist of parallelograms, 
having a radial or vibrating movement, similar to 
that of a pendulum, the centre of motion being the 
centre of these semi-cylinders. The semi-cylin- 
ders, are placed longitudinally in the very bottom 
of the vessel, and parallel to the line of keel. 
Motion is given to the propeller-shaft by means 
of short connecting rods, attached to vibrating 
crank levers on the axes of the vibrating pistons ; 
and the latter are made to reciprocate by the ad- 
mission of steam, alternately, on opposite sides, 
as in ordinary engines. 

This semi-cylindrical engine of ERICSSON 
marks an epoch in the history of steam-engines. 
It is so compact that it occupies only one eighth 
of the bulk of the British marine engine of cor- 
responding power, and is less than one half the 
weight. By a peculiar construction, the moving 
parts have been rendered so extremely light, that 

6 



40 



the quantity of matter to be kept in motion is 
hardly one sixth that of the engine to which I 
have alluded. This lightness and simplicity of 
arrangement enable ERICSSON to give a direct 
movement to the propeller-shaft, without the 
intervention of cog wheels and other gear for 
multiplying the speed, resorted to in the Great 
Britain steam-ship, and indispensable in all 
steamers propelled by the Archimedian screw. 
The engines of the Great Britain, owing to 
their cumbrous nature, must be worked at a 
speed only one fourth that of the screw that is 
the screw will perform four revolutions to one of 
the engine. 

The next peculiarity to be noticed in the 
Princeton is the absence of the ordinary tall 
smoke pipe, -employed to produce the draft for 
keeping up combustion in the furnaces of the 
boilers. The smoke-pipe has hitherto formed 
an insuperable objection to a steamer as a ship of 
war ; for the moment that it is carried away, 
the efficiency of the engines ceases from want 
of steam. The draft in the boilers of the Prince- 
ton is promoted by means of blowers placed in the 
bottom of the vessel, and is quite independent of 
the height of the smoke-pipe, which is only carried 



41 



about five feet above the deck of the ship. If this 
inconsiderable projection should become partially 
deranged by a shot, the draft kept up by the blow- 
ers will continue as efficient as before. 

It is not out of place here to observe, that ERICS- 
SON was the first to apply to marine engines cen- 
trifugal blowers, now so common in this country in 
all boilers using anthracite coal. In the year 
1831 he applied such a blower, worked by a sepa- 
rate small steam-engine, to the steam-packet Cor- 
sair of one hundred and twenty horse power, 
plying between Liverpool and Belfast. 

But Captain ERICSSON has not merely fur- 
nished the Princeton with this efficient and 
secure means of propulsion, he has also fur- 
nished her with instruments which tend to ren- 
der the large guns introduced by Captain STOCK- 
TON extremely formidable ordnance. The Prince- 
ton has two of these guns. One of them was 
made in ENGLAND, and is of about seven tons 
weight ; the other was forged by Ward & Co., 
and finished at the Phrenix Foundry in the city 
of New- York. The latter is said to be the largest 
piece of wrought iron in the world. It weighs 
ten tons, has a bore of twelve inches, and carries 
a ball of two hundred and thirteen pounds. 



Powerful as this gun is from its large calibre, 
yet it would obviously be of little practical use 
without the means of handling, managing and di- 
recting it ; and such means have been devised 
by the same mind which conceived the Propeller 
and the steam engine of the Princeton. These 
are a carriage of peculiar construction ; a novel 
lock ; and an instrument for measuring distances 
at sea. The carriage obviates the difficulties 
arising from the immense recoil of the gun, and 
renders it, notwithstanding its vast weight, readily 
manageable by a small number of hands. It is 
made of wrought-iron. 

The lock to which I have referred is constructed 
on principles by which the common law of gra- 
vitation, in connection with the rolling of the sea, 
is made subservient in discharging the gun at any 
desired elevation without human interference. 
The idea of this lock occurred to Captain ERICS- 
SON in the year 1828, and he then constructed one 
which was exhibited to the head of the British Or- 
dnance Department, Sir HENRY VANE. This 
gentleman was very much struck with the import- 
ant object of the invention, and offered to appoint 
a board of officers to test it in practice, and to 
report upon it. But as the test could not be 



43 



satisfactorily applied without divulging the secret 
of the invention, Captain ERICSSON desired to 
have an' agreement executed, binding the govern- 
ment to make him a suitable remuneration, in the 
event of the trial proving successful. Such a 
course did not coincide altogether with the views 
of Sir HENRY VANE, and the inventor declined 
further negociation ; preferring to lock up his in- 
strument in an iron safe, where it remained until 
the year 1839, when his acquaintance with Cap- 
tain STOCKTON induced ERICSSON to believe him 
the proper person to bring out the invention. 
Nor was he deceived, for Captain STOCKTON saw 
at a glance its whole practical bearing and im- 
portance. This lock will be applied to the large 
wrought iron guns of the Princeton, and cannot 
fail, I am assured, to direct them with unerring 
certainty even in a heavy seaway. 

Of the distance instrument I must say a word. 
The point-blank range of a gun, it is well known, 
is very limited ; and consequently when the enemy 
is at a distance exceeding half a mile, it becomes 
necessary to give a certain elevation to the gun, 
in order to counteract the effect of gravitation 
on the ball. This elevation depends entirely on 
the distance of the object to be aimed at ; and 



44 



unless that be accurately known, the proper 
elevation cannot be given with any degree of 
accuracy. Various contrivances have been from 
time to time suggested by naval men, for measuring 
distances at sea, but hitherto the result has been 
mere guess-work. The fertility of ERICSSON'S 
mechanical genius has, however, at length accom- 
plished this great desideratum, by an instrument 
calculated to measure all distances at sea from 
four hundred and fifty to four thousand yards. It 
is based upon unerring and simple mathematical 
principles, and enables the observer to measure 
any required distance in a few seconds ; and the 
result being read off by inspection, there is no lia- 
bility of error. 

In view then of the many advantages possessed 
by the Princeton, I will recur to the spectacle, 
with the delineation of which I commenced this 
Lecture, and indulge for a moment in the reflec- 
tions and speculations which it naturally suggests. 
In the way of steam-navigation, the Great West- 
ern is thus far the boast of European skill and 
science. Neither the government of FRANCE nor 
of ENGLAND, with their immense steam-navies, 
has produced anything superior in speed, beauty 
or security. And yet, how comparatively cum- 



45 



brous, unmanageable and exposed, are her steam- 
machinery and her paddle-wheels ! A single 
shot well directed would destroy her capacity of 
propulsion by steam, and leave her at the mercy 
of the elements. Thus crippled, her sole depen- 
dence must be upon her canvass, and in a calm 
she would lie an idle hulk upon the waters ; and 
with wind, her canvass would be of little use to her, 
while oppressed by the dead weight of her fuel 
and machinery, and retarded by the resistance of 
her motionless paddle-wheels. And what is true 
of the Great Western is equally true of whole 
fleets of steamers that have been constructed, by 
the governments of EUROPE, with a partial view 
to objects of commerce and communication, but 
with the ulterior and contingent purposes of ag- 
gressive or defensive warfare. 

Turn now to the Princeton, and look at her, 
not with reference to her armament, which in this 
aspect is of secondary interest, but to her means 
of propulsion alone. Her steam-machinery and 
propelling apparatus are placed entirely below 
the water line ; while the contrivance, by which 
motion is communicated to the Propeller, is so 
simple as almost to preclude the possibility of de- 
rangement, and is inaccessible to any external 



46 



agent of injury. Strip her of sails and yards, cut 
down her masts, riddle her hull with shot, lay her 
bare fore and aft to the water-line her engine still 
remains uninjured, the boiler still generates steam, 
and her moving power still continues undimin- 
ished. It is universally admitted that the intro- 
duction of steam upon the ocean, will produce a 
great change in maritime warfare ; but the princi- 
ples developed in the Princeton will work an 
entire revolution. 

Steamers as hitherto constructed, may be well 
enough employed in maintaining communication 
between distant shores and distant fleets, or in 
towing ships of war into position, but they are not 
capable of mingling in the combat. It is difficult, 
however, to imagine a more formidable or more 
safe machine of warfare than the Princeton. Not 
only can she act upon data of seasons and dis- 
tances, with an accuracy that winds or waves can 
but little disturb, but she can move secretly and 
silently upon her prey. There is no cloud of 
smoke to track her path by day, and the noiseless 
action of her submerged Propeller gives no warn- 
ing to the enemy of her approach by night. Tem- 
pests cannot thwart her. Calms cannot delay 
her progress. By the location of her moving 



47 



power below the water-line, it is protected from 
the missiles of the enemy. She can select 
her own time and place of attack. She can 
never be forced into an engagement, and in 
a thousand situations in which the crippled 
line of battle ship or the crippled paddle- 
wheel steamer would be at the mercy of the 
enemy, the Princeton may retire from a su- 
perior foe and with her unimpaired moving power, 
retain a position from which she may mark her 
very retreat with destruction and death. 

Whatever may have been the cause of her po- 
licy, whether it is the consequence of accident or 
foresight, it is certainly fortunate for our own 
country, that she has not followed the example of 
the leading European powers in their bold expen- 
ditures and experiments in the navigation of the 
ocean by steam. Millions on millions of pounds 
have been disbursed by those governments, in the 
construction of steam-fleets, which, in view of the 
improvements that physical science has success- 
fully introduced in the Princeton, may answer as 
tenders and transport ships, but must prove utterly 
useless in a naval engagement. While an ordi- 
nary sailing man of war may remain efficient, 
after receiving a dozen broadsides, a shot in the 

7 



48 



right place would completely disable the proudest 
of the war-steamers that now float under the ban- 
ners of FRANCE or of ENGLAND. 

The construction of the Princeton, and the 
reservation of our means to be expended on the 
principles that have been successfully applied in 
that beautiful steamer, place us, in regard to steam 
navigation in a better position than any other na- 
tion of the globe. It may safely be said, that the 
Princeton alone is more than a match for a fleet 
of paddle-wheel steamers. I am informed that 
Captain STOCKTON, conscious of the advantages 
which the genius of ERICSSON has given to steam 
ships, declared on a recent occasion, that, with 
twenty steam frigates on the new plan, he would 
engage to take possession of the British chan- 
nel and to blockade London itself. 

But we should have little cause to contemplate 
with pleasure the improvements which I have thus 
imperfectly described, if they could be made to 
minister merely to the arts of warfare. It is in 
a different service they assume the most interest- 
ing aspect ; a service in which they cannot fail to 
extend the blessings of civilization, and promote 
the welfare of the great family of man. 

I have hitherto considered the Propeller merely 



49 



in connection with ships of war ; but it must prove 
of far greater importance in increasing the facili- 
ties of pacific intercourse, and in establishing a 
certain and rapid communication between the 
kindred nations of the globe. A great change in 
this respect has already been effected, by the appli- 
cation of steam to the navigation of the ocean ; 
but in consequence of the imperfect action of the 
paddle-wheel, we have hitherto failed to accom- 
plish a successful co-operation of the powers of 
wind and steam. By the substitution of the Pro- 
peller, these two powers may be harmoniously 
combined. It is well ascertained that sails can- 
not be used to any great advantage in ordinary 
steam-ships. The action of the wind upon the 
sails careens the vessel ; and thus, one paddle- 
wheel is immersed, while the other is lifted en- 
tirely out of the water. A great retardation of 
speed is the obvious consequence. But the Pro- 
peller continues equally as efficient when a ship is 
upon her beam ends, as when she is perfectly up- 
right ; and thus, the full power of the engines may 
be made to operate, at the same moment, with the 
entire force of the wind. There is no situation 
of the ship, in which there is any necessary con- 
flict of these two great agencies of propulsion. 



50 



In the event of any derangement of the machinery, 
or of any circumstances which should require an 
economical expenditure of fuel, the Propeller may 
be readily disengaged, and the vessel proceed 
by the aid of her canvass alone. In the Prince- 
ton, for instance, such is the connection between 
the engines and the Propeller, that by simply 
touching a lever the Propeller is at once liberated. 
Thus released, it revolves freely on the shaft, and 
causes a very inconsiderable resistance to the pro- 
gress of the ship. 

Such indeed are the lightness and compactness 
of the Propeller, and such is the simplicity of the 
engine by which it is set in motion, that it may 
well be applied to ordinary sailing vessels as an 
auxiliary ; and it is in this form, doubtless, that 
the invention is destined to promote the greatest 
and most beneficial changes in navigation. 
Indeed it requires but little boldness to predict 
that the time is not far distant when all vessels, 
intended for ocean navigation, will be provided 
with this auxiliary power ; and thus proceed 
steadily to their respective points of destination, 
with a certainty, regularity and despatch, that will 
add greatly to the results of human exertion. 

In natural connection with the PROPELLER, I 



51 



now propose to take a hasty glance at ERICSSON'S 
CALORIC ENGINE, which excited so much interest 
a few years ago in ENGLAND ; and which, if it 
should be brought into practical operation, will 
prove the most important mechanical invention 
ever conceived by the human mind, and one that 
will confer greater benefits on civilized life than 
any that has ever preceded it. For the object 
of it is the production of mechanical power by 
the agency of heat, at an expenditure of fuel so 
exceedingly small, that man will have an almost 
unlimited mechanical force at his command, in 
regions where fuel may now be said hardly to 
exist. The announcement of such an idea may 
startle all those acquainted with the nature of 
heat, and the well known limits of the amount of 
mechanical power which any given quantity of 
caloric is capable of producing ; more particu- 
larly, as it is a well established fact, that a given 
quantity of heat will exert an equal amount of 
mechanical power, to whatsoever medium it may 
be imparted. 

ERICSSON'S theory of heat is altogether in op- 
position to the received notion, that the mechani- 
cal force produced will bear a direct known 
proportion to the quantity of caloric generated ; 



52 



and that the power exerted in our best con- 
structed steam-engines is nearly the measure of 
that effect. 

The late professor HARVEFELDT, of Sweden, 
one of the first mathematicians of the day, stated 
in a public lecture, not many years ago, that there 
is nothing in the theory of heat which proves that 
a common spirit lamp may not be sufficient to 
drive an engine of an hundred horse power. It 
will readily be believed that the professor had but 
few hearers who did not smile at the suggestion ; 
but among those few we may number ERICSSON, 
who, from the earliest period of his mechanical 
labors, had been in the habit of regarding heat as 
an agent, WHICH, WHILST IT EXERTS MECHANICAL 
FORCE, UNDERGOES NO CHANGE. This extraordi- 
nary fact, ERICSSON exemplifies, by a simple but 
conclusive illustration ; for the readier reception 
of which, by the audience, it will be well to intro- 
duce particular dimensions. Suppose the piston 
of an ordinary steam-engine cylinder to be at the 
bottom, and suppose the force of the steam in- 
tended to be admitted into this cylinder under 
the piston to act with the force of 100,000 
pounds, which is the force on a piston of 50 
inches diameter, acted upon by steam of 50 



53 



pounds pressure to the square inch. Suppose 
the cylinder to be ten feet long, and the piston to 
be loaded with a weight equal to these 100,000 
pounds. If, now, a sufficient quantity of steam 
of the stated pressure be admitted from below 
the piston, this load will be elevated through the 
whole length of the cylinder ; and hence we shall 
have raised a weight of 100,000 pounds through 
a space of ten feet. But who will contend 
that this immense amount of mechanical force 
has required any EXPENDITURE OF HEAT? 
Does not the steam, after having lifted this 
weight, contain just as much heat as it did before 
leaving the steam-boiler less only the losses by 
radiation ? And does not that heat retain all the 
properties AFTER the operation which it posses- 
sed BEFORE ? Am I, then, incorrect in stating 
that we have obtained this power without chan- 
ging the nature, or diminishing the energy of 
the heat employed ? 

But although nature has furnished us with an 
agent of such extraordinary properties for the 
production of mechanical force, how imperfectly 
do we employ it ! In the low-pressure engine 
we turn the steam, after having performed its 
good office, into a condensing apparatus where 



the heat is in a manner annihilated ; and in the 
high-pressure engine, we throw it away into the 
atmosphere. Yet men, even of mechanical 
distinction, ridicule the idea of superseding 
the steam-engine ; and Science seems to pause 
contentedly in the contemplation of its ad- 
mitted perfection. For a mere theorist to 
attempt an exposition of its defects, or to sug- 
gest a substitute would, under such circumstan- 
ces, excite little attention ; but the opinions and 
views, in this connection, of a man of great prac- 
tical knowledge, who has planned and con- 
structed hundreds of steam-engines, are en- 
titled, certainly, to peculiar consideration. 

From what I have already said, it will be 
readily inferred that the principle forming the 
basis of the CALORIC ENGINE is that of returning 
the heat, at each stroke of the piston, and using 
it over and over again. This is obviously im- 
practicable, if steam is employed as the acting 
medium. ERICSSON, therefore, uses the per- 
manent gases, and, in preference to all others, 
atmospheric air. The object which he seeks to 
accomplish is simply this that the heat, con- 
tained in the air which escapes from the working 
cylinder, should be effectually taken up by the air 



55 



which enters it, at each stroke of the engine. 
This result Captain ERICSSON has accomplished 
by means of an apparatus which he styles a re- 
generator ; and so perfectly does it operate, that 
the heat employed in first setting the engine in 
motion continues to sustain it in full working 
force, with no other renewal or addition than 
may be requisite to supply the inconsiderable 
loss by radiation. This remarkable invention 
was first brought before the scientific world in 
London in the year 1833, though it had been a 
favorite subject of speculation and reflection with 
Captain ERICSSON for many years. With the 
prominent exception of the celebrated Dr. AN- 
DREW URE, and Professor FARAYDAY, now 
the most distinguished chemists in ENGLAND, 
nearly all the leading scientific men of the day 
united in condemning the principle on which it 
was based as unsound and untenable. 

After such preliminary experiments as he 
deemed requisite to enable him to ascertain the 
best form of the REGENERATOR, the inventor at 
once constructed in LONDON a working engine of 
five horse power, the performance of which was 
witnessed by a great number of gentlemen of sci- 
entific pretensions in that metropolis. Among 

8 



56 



others, the popular author, Sir RICHARD PHIL- 
LIPS, examined it; and, in his Dictionary of the 
Arts of Life and of Civilization, he thus notices 
the result of this experiment. " The author 
has," he says, " with inexpressible delight, seen 
" the first model machine of five horse power at 
" work. With a handful of fuel, applied to the 
" very sensible medium of atmospheric air, and 
" a most ingenious disposition of its differential 
" powers, he beheld a resulting action in narrow 
" compass, capable of extension to as great for- 
" ces as ever can be wielded or used by man." 

The interest which this subject excited did 
not escape the British Government. But a short 
time was permitted to elapse before the Secretary 
of the Home Department, Lord ALTHORP, now 
Earl SPENCER, made his appearance in the engine 
room where the new motive power was in opera- 
tion. His Lordship was accompanied by Mr. 
BRUNEL, the constructor of the Thames Tunnel, 
and a gentleman at one period distinguished for 
his skill and enterprize as an engineer. At this 
time he was somewhat advanced in years, and 
therefore, perhaps, not most judiciously selected 
by his Lordship to judge of this invention. 
At the very outset he conceived an altogether 



57 



erroneous notion of the nature of the new 
power, which he would not suffer to be cor- 
rected by explanations. An earnest discussion 
arose between Mr. BRUNEL and the inventor on 
the spot, which was followed by a protracted 
correspondence. The result was that an unfa- 
vorable impression of the new power was 
communicated to the British Government. 

The invention fared but little better at the 
hands of Professor FARAYDAY, from whose effi- 
cient advocacy and influence the most favorable 
results might have been anticipated. This gen- 
tleman had announced that he would deliver a 
Lecture on the subject in LONDON, in the spa- 
cious theatre of the Royal Institution. The 
novelty and interest of the invention, combined 
with the distinguished reputation of the lecturer, 
had attracted a very large audience, including 
many individuals of eminent scientific attain- 
ments. Just half an hour, however, before he 
was expected to enlighten this distinguished 
assembly, the celebrated lecturer discovered that 
he had mistaken the expansive principle which 
is the very life of the machine. Although he 
had spent many hours in studying the CALORIC 
ENGINE in actual operation, and in testing its 



absolute force by repeated experiments, Professor 
FARAYDAY was compelled to inform his hearers, 
at the very outset, that he did not know why the 
engine worked at all. He was obliged to con- 
fine himself, therefore, to the explanation of the 
Regenerator, and the process by which the heat 
is continually returned to the cylinder, and re- 
employed in the production of force. To this 
part of the invention he rendered ample justice, 
and explained it in that felicitous style to which 
he is indebted for the reputation he deservedly 
enjoys, as the most agreeable and successful 
lecturer in ENGLAND. 

Other causes than the misconception of a 
BRUNEL and a FARAYDAY operated to retard the 
practical success of this beautiful invention. 
The high temperature, which it was necessary to 
keep up in the circulating medium of the engine, 
and the consequent oxidation, soon destroyed 
the pistons, valves, and other working parts. 
These difficulties the inventor endeavored to 
remedy, in an engine which he subsequently con- 
structed of mu'ch larger powers, but without 
success. His failure in this respect, however, 
has not deterred him from prosecuting his inven- 
tion. During his residence in this country, 



59 



Captain ERICSSON has constructed two engines, 
though purely experimental, with the view of 
working at a reduced temperature ; and he is 
gradually, but surely, approaching the realization 
of his great scheme. 

The prescribed limits of a Lecture like the 
present will not permit me to follow the deeply in- 
teresting analogies, traced by ERICSSON, between 
the principle of the CALORIC ENGINE, and that 
of animate and terrestrial force. Some of his 
views and calculations on the subject, however, I 
cannot omit to present to this audience chiefly 
to meet the objections of those who imagine that 
they can detect in the CALORIC ENGINE prin- 
ciples that involve the chimera of the Perpetual 
Motion. 

The sophist accounts for the continued repro- 
duction of the forces expended in nature, by what 
he calls a nice balance. If this expression fail 
to convey a distinct idea to those who hear it, it 
is probably because no very distinct idea on the 
subject exists in the mind of him who employs it. 
He imagines that all force exerted in nature is 
productive of an equivalent counter-force ; but 
how nature makes this counter-force subservient 
he cannot explain. Were his doctrine true, the 



principle of the CALORIC ENGINE would very 
much resemble that of the Perpetual Motion ; for 
its object is the production of a continued force, 
almost without reference to the amount of the 
original exciting cause. Surprising as this may 
appear, the truth of it is manifested by the prin- 
cipal operating forces in nature, nearly the whole 
of which, as ERICSSON contends, in a strictly 
mechanical view, are wasted ; or, in other words, 
are exerted without producing any useful or availa- 
ble counter-effect. And yet Nature has ever at 
her command an unlimited amount of force ! 

To illustrate the amount of this force, I will 
present one or two calculations by ERICSSON 
that may excite the astonishment of all who have 
not had their attention particularly directed to 
this subject. The quantity of water discharged 
at the Falls of Niagara is estimated at 28,000 
tons a second ; which is equal to 3,360,000,000 
of pounds falling through a space of 150 feet in 
a minute, or of 504,000,000,000 through the 
space of one foot. If we divide this amount by 
33,000, which is the number of pounds that a 
single horse is capable of moving through 
the space of one foot in a minute, the result 
shows the power of the Falls of Niagara to be 



61 



equal to 15,000,000 of horse power constantly 
exerted. Now, an ordinary steam-engine of one 
horse power, kept constantly at work for one 
year, consumes twenty tons of coal. To produce 
by means of steam power, therefore, a constant 
force, equal to that of the Falls of Niagara, would 
require the annual consumption of three hundred 
millions of tons of coal. But the Niagara forms 
only a small portion of the descent of the St. 
Lawrence ; and the whole earth is watered by 
rivers and falls, the united force of which amounts 
to many hundred times that shown by our calcu- 
lation. What a stupendous force is here exhi- 
bited ! And yet no one can deny that it is in a 
mechanical sense entirely lost, and that nature 
reproduces it constantly by FRESH MEANS. It re- 
quires but a word of comment on this illustration, 
to exhibit the imperfection of the means employed 
by man for the production of mechanical power. 
By keeping up a force equivalent to a few mil- 
lions of horse power in our steam-engines, we are 
fast exhausting our mineral store-houses ; while 
Nature, in constantly exerting a force a million 
of times greater, causes no change any where 
that is perceptible to the most rigid scrutiny. 
Here, then, we have a CALORIC ENGINE on a 



62 



vast scale, and a REGENERATOR that is susceptible 
of no improvement. 

The forces to which I have hitherto alluded, 
many will ascribe to solar influence ; a term by 
which they merely assign a remote location to 
the acting cause, but fail to explain it. To meet 
this class of reasoners, ERICSSON has prepared 
another calculation, based upon those forces in 
animate nature, for the production of which solar 
influence is not absolutely necessary. This 
calculation estimates the amount of force con- 
stantly exerted by animate nature, as equivalent 
to that of an engine of 100,000,000 of horse 
power. It is well ascertained that man is 
capable of exerting a force equal to raising 
50 pounds through a space of one hundred 
feet, for every minute during eight hours out 
of the twenty-four. This force may not be 
always exerted, but it is within the ability 
of every man. Hence we shall underrate the 
average individual power, if we state it to be 
adequate to raising ten pounds constantly through 
a space of one hundred feet per minute ; and, 
assuming the number of human beings to be 
1,000,000,000, their united force will be equal 
to an engine of 30,000,000 of horse power. 



63 



We shall not much err in estimating the force 
which the quadrupeds are capable of exerting at 
the same amount ; and the inhabitants of the 
sea are constantly exerting a far greater force. 
We know that the power of the whale, for in- 
stance, frequently exceeds twenty horse, so that 
the amount assumed would be made up by a 
million and a half of these creatures alone. It is 
obvious, then, that the united force of animate 
beings on our globe is much more than equivalent 
to an engine of 100,000,000 horse power. It has | 
already been stated that an engine of one horse 
power consumes 20 tons of coal a year. Hence 
it follows that with OUR present imperfect means 
of producing mechanical power, we should re- 
quire TWO THOUSAND MILLIONS of tons annually 
to exert a force equal to that of animate nature. 
To maintain that force, therefore, even on our 
underrated estimate, for a single century, a mere 
speck in time, would require two hundred thou- 
sand millions of tons ; demanding the complete 
exhaustion of a coal field of 3,000 square miles 
in extent, with a solid stratum of mineral one 
hundred feet in thickness. And yet animate 
nature perpetually maintains this force without 
any perceptible permanent change. 

9 



64 



True it is, we do not know on what mechani- 
cal principles it is maintained, nor can we ex- 
plain the precise cause of animate force ; but it 
would be irrational to attribute it to the arbitrary 
will of Omnipotence. We cannot but assume 
that it depends solely on the mechanical laws of 
nature ; and in this view of it we are led, irre- 
sistibly, to the conclusion that there exists in 
Nature a principle of absolute reproduction of 
mechanical force. 

We need not assert that this principle depends 
on the extraordinary properties of heat which we 
have been considering. It is enough for our pur- 
poses to have demonstrated that Nature exerts 
an infinite amount of mechanical power without 
causing any perceptible change. However im- 
perfect may be the principle of ERICSSON'S 
CALORIC ENGINE, yet it resembles the sublime 
reproducing principle of Nature, and if not de- 
feated by practical obstacles, this invention will 
prove a greater boon than the ingenuity of 
individual man has ever before enabled him to 
bestow upon his race. 



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